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This build was made possible by Sincere Cycles. Bailey took Slade‘s idea and made it a reality. From a rolling chassis of frame, fork, and wheels, came this complete bike which has got to be one of the most clever builds I’ve documented this year. Slade’s an energetic soul who jumped right into the world of bikepacking with this Chumba Ursa…
Towering over Flagstaff and the surrounding area, the series of mountain summits comprising what are contemporarily referred to as “San Francisco Peaks,” or just “The Peaks,” have held spiritual and cultural significance since long before Spanish colonists arrived and began assigning names to geologic formations.
We love a good hardtail shredit and Connor Fearon knows how to take the right lines, the hard way…
It had been years since I’ve ridden singlespeed and to be honest, I was pretty reluctant to do so here in Santa Fe. We’ve been in town for about two months now and it’s taken a while to get used to the elevation. Our house is at 6,800′ and the local trails start around 7,000′, shooting up to 12,000′. It’s a lot to take in but for the more flowy cross-country trails, I felt like I could get away with one gear and I knew just the bike for it!
My Retrotec is one of those “forever” machines. I could never sell it as it feels like it’s a part of this website. Plus, the maker – Mr. Curtis Inglis – is just such a stand up guy. When you ride a Retrotec, you put a smile on Curtis’ face and if you’ve ever met the guy, you know that’s well worth it!
Sometimes the most gratifying journeys aren’t a product of being perfectly prepared; rather, they occur when you’re in the shit, working with the wrong tool for the job, and in spite of overwhelming odds, you scrape by. That’s precisely what took place this summer on a supremely challenging bike trip across the great Golden State.
Announced today, the follow-up to ENVE’s OG mountain fork is their new Boost Mountain fork. This fork has a few clever details, with some welcomed additions that make it a great ally for your bikepacking setup. Read on below for a deep dive using John’s Sklar 29+ desert rat rig as a model…
GT has redesigned its Zaskar hardtail into two build specs, the Zaskar LT Elite (£999/€1199) and the Zaskar LT Expert (shown here £1,299 / €1,499). The Zaskar LT frame has been thoroughly modernized with a 66º head angle, a 75º seat angle, and 450mm chainstays. These bikes come built with 1×12 drivetrains and feature GT’s signature triple triangle. Right now, these models are only available to the European markets but I would think the Zaskar LT will be available in the USA as well shortly. Head to GT to see full specs and more information.
Ryan Wilson kicks off a series we’re launching during the pandemic, a shout out to our favorite small businesses in the cycling industry. Here are some of Ryan’s personal favorite products!
Small businesses are the foundation of the outdoor industry and many have been seriously impacted by the pandemic over the last couple of months. While money is understandably tight for a significant portion of people, if you do have the means and are dreaming up your next bike trip or local ride, I wanted to offer up a few suggestions for gear that I believe is worthy of investing in from some of my favorite small businesses in the industry.
Spencer and Donny have two different styles and preferences when it comes to riding bikes. One is the ultra XC hardtail guy and the other loves downhill. What could bring them together after such a schism has formed?
Most people know Wilderness Trail Bikes or WTB as an aftermarket component manufacturer. While this has pretty much always been their MO their catalog once included a lot more than seats and tires. In the early days WTB products were further developments of the work done by founding partners Charlie Cunningham and Steve Potts.
With the pandemic putting a halt to NAHBS and our post-NAHBS framebuilder ride/showcase in Sedona this year, we decided to pull something together with our friends at ENVE to commemorate their new Foundation AM30 MTB wheel launch. When ENVE moved into its new carbon manufacturing and testing facility, they worked hard to push the progression of carbon wheel design and manufacturing. Over three years later and thousands of hours developing, today they launched their Foundation Collection, a completely new wheel line that marks a new milestone in wheel design. In short, for those of us who aren’t interested in graphs or projections, ENVE launched a $1600 made in the USA wheelset and to help showcase these new wheels, we pinged three frame builders to showcase these wheels. The last in the series is Retrotec with a beautiful Funduro 29er.
With the pandemic putting a halt to NAHBS and our post-NAHBS framebuilder ride/showcase in Sedona this year, we decided to pull something together with our friends at ENVE to commemorate their new Foundation MTB wheel launch. When ENVE moved into its new carbon manufacturing and testing facility, they worked hard to push the progression of carbon wheel design and manufacturing. Over three years later and thousands of hours developing, today they launched their Foundation Collection, a completely new wheel line that marks a new milestone in wheel design. In short, for those of us who aren’t interested in graphs or projections, ENVE launched a $1600 made in the USA wheelset and to help showcase these new wheels, we pinged three frame builders to showcase these wheels. The first is the Falconer Cycles NFS, Normal Full Suspension and/or Not For Sale. Below are words, penned by Cameron Falconer describing the project.
It doesn’t matter if you want Enduro or XC wheels, Industry Nine’s newly designed MTB wheel catalog has the right wheelset for your staple bike. Each of these newly-engineered and re-designed carbon rims come paired with the new 6-pawl Hydra hub, direct thread straight-pull spokes, and a lifetime warranty. Customize your own design, like Spencer did for his Orbea Loki, or go with jet black at Industry Nine’s ano lab or through your local dealer.
With Fox’s announcement of their newly designed forks this morning, they also rang the dinner bell to feast upon these limited edition Heritage Collection forks. Rootbeer, Pistachio, and Battleship are the colors adorning the 36, 38, and 40 forks. These forks are only available in limited quantities and will most likely sell out today, so holler at your local dealer to order one.
For those looking for 32 and 34 news, the step-cast Float 32 received a new crown, but the 34 comes in a step-cast lightweight trail 34 and a 34 trail. The 34 trail seems to be the sweet spot for hardtail and bikepacking rigs, as it now features FIT4 or FIT GRIP dampers, with 130, 140, 150mm of travel options.
Check out this massive product drop at Fox.
Last week, Bombtrack announced their yearly Bilderbuch, a compilation of what to expect from the brand’s dense catalog of bicycles. Naturally, as a brand, they have diversified their line up to meet just about any preference. There are road bikes, disc road bikes, rigid MTB, hardtails, gravel bikes, and classic tourers. Check out preferences and why we have gravitated to them below.
Traveling by bike is inspiring and stimulating. From the saddle, you have time to think and dream. It’s dynamic. Pushing the pedals pumps blood. You breathe more air. you are enveloped in nature. There is so much to experience and interpret. If you’re riding with friends, you share ideas and maybe you build dreams together– layers of big ideas, feelings, details, reality, time, reflection and how you can really pull it all off. A great idea is very different from execution. You don’t have to be the best or the most organized to do something good. And you don’t have to know every possible outcome from the start. Adventure is stepping into the unknown. It’s scary and exciting and always requires more work than you really want to put in, but you follow through anyway because you have guts and you care.
In the spring of 2017, while riding the Baja Divide, Cait Rodriguez and I hatched the idea for Anchorage GRIT.
After reviewing the Starling Murmur Factory early last year, I placed a deposit for one myself, springing for the made in the UK front triangle, made in Taiwan rear swingarm model, in a larger size than the demo large I reviewed. Joe and I discussed the bike, I sent in the money needed and waited. A few months later, Joe alerted me that the bike was done and he shipped it to the United States. Little did I know that I wouldn’t see the bike for almost 8 months later.
So as you can imagine, the contributors to the Radavist are all sitting on a bit more free time these days, myself included. While personally, I still have a few bikes to review, which will be rolling out over the next few weeks, we’d all like to queue up a few more. Over the years, the readership has provided outstanding feedback, and with those opinions, we’ve reviewed various bikes from big brands to small. We’re all collectively wondering which bikes you’d like to see reviewed here on the Radavist? Drop your preference in the comments and we’ll take note!
